Projectile for air vessels.



R. MACHENBACH.

PROJECTILE FOR AIR VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.16. 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Q Q j- [vi/liaise;

R. MACHENBACH.

PROJECTILE FOR AIR VESSELS.

APPLICATION FlLED APR. lfil 1913. 1,142,827, Patented June 15, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Vessels, ofwhich .fic ati on. I

UNITED s'rsrrss EATENT OFFICE.

Elm MACHEHBACH, 0F SCHLEBUSCH, N'EAB- COLQGNE. GERMAN EROJ'ECTILE F63, AIR VESSELS.

Specification of fitters 'Eatentn Patented June 15, 1915.

Application filed April 16, 191.3. Serial 230. 761,575.

T all whom it m ay concern Be it known that I, RICHARD Mamie):- B C alsubject of the German Emperor, and resident ofschlehusch, near Cologneon-theRhine,,"Germany, have invented a certain new and useful Projectile for Air the following is a specithe air, nhen the projectile is in the act.

of falling The fan 1 is attached to the shaft Quliich at its lower end isprorided arith 'af scrw thread 3 and a thin prolongationo-r pin' i; This pin 4 passes through a transverse bore of the peg 5 and thus normally presents the peg from being remored or pulled out. The peg at one end is 'surroundedby a spiral spring 6'. which bears against the head of the peg and thus has the tendency to withdraw the'p eg. This tendency is resisted by the pin 4, until released. The peg at the same time holds the plunger 7Iin position and thus prevents detonation of the projectile b an unin' tentional or untimely impact. As soon as the peg isreleased from the hold of the pin 4 and pulled out. the plunger 7 will,

"as soon as the projectile hits the mark,

drire the percussion cap or primer against the needlelO overcoming the ,strain of the spring 8. .The percussion cap will ignite 'and set the explosion chest 11 on fire, which itself will cause the detonation of thccharge 12. According to the length and steepness of the thread 3 the fuse willhe set at firing 7 position at any desired distance from the spot where the projectile starts'or thrown. hen the thread has been screwed hack to its complete length the end surface of the same'u'ill rest against the shoulder 13 of the tuhe 14. so that the fan 1 will not be completely Withdrawn, but will keep its hold on the projectile and Willrontinue to rotate. Thus the fan will keep on guidin the projectile in its further falling motion, in-suchma'nner that the central line of the projectile remains perpendicular. In

some cases I may provide means whereby the projectile is rendered doubly secure, this result being attained by locking the rotatable fan against unintentionalrotation, such an embodiment being-illustrated atv Fig. 2 of the appendedgdrawing. In Fig.

2 the shell creasing 13- has theshape of a pear and is so designed-that the fuse is alwaysat the-rear end, and is bound to be set in operation, when an impact. takes place. v

T he fuse is screwed into the cylindrical socket 1-1" of the shell 13' by the aid of the screw threadand on the same socket a guard 1:5 is attached'forthe fuse; This guard con sists of two hoops and serves for protect- .ing the parts of the fuse should the projectile happen to tumble. Thehoops enable a convenient transport of the projectile.

-The fuse itself consists as usual of the plunger 7, the needle 10, the explosion chest 11 and the safety spring-Bfl-The safety nicchanism for the plunger consistsof the peg 5 acted upon by the spring 6 and holdin position hy a pin 4 projecting or attached to the rotatable spindle 2. To this spindle the fan 1 is firmly attached by the counter nut '16. The spindle is hollow at its upper end, and within this hollow a second plunger 17 is loosely guided having a transverse pin 18, which projects through a slot ofthe'spindle 2' and engages i1 notch in the guiding screw 19. By these means rotation of the spindle 2 and the fan 1 will be prevented. The pressure. spring 21 hearing against the screw 20 prevents any unintentional Withdrawing of the pin 18 out of the notch. At its upper eud the plunger 17 carries a hemispheri al cap 22.

The device operates in the following manner: The projectile being thrown-out, the cap '22 will be raised when the projectile has attained a certain speed, by the air catching underneath. and thus will also raise-the pin 18. The consequence is, that the pin ]8 slides out of the notch and relcascs the fan. The same will start to rotate and unscreu's the spindle 2 from the screw thread 3, 'herch the pin 4 is withsition, inay-take place at any desired distance, say 100-250 m. from the air vessel, so that the driver or occupant of the air vessel isfin no danger even if the landing is very violent. The device has the advantage,

that any undesired rotation of the fan 1 and therefore an untimely tripping of the striking plunger 7 by the release and withdrained of the peg 5 is effectively prevented.

The means for locking the fan 1 on the fixed part 19 may of course be otherwise constructed as far as it is adapted to be re leased by the cap.

I claim: j

1. Projectile for air vessels, comprising a casing, a fan, a fuse comprising a plunger, a peg for holding the plunger in position, a

spring bearing on the peg and tending to throw it out, a spindle carrying the fan andprovided with screw thread, a pm at the end of the spindle engaging the peg and adapted to release the peg when the fan is rotated and unscrews the spindle 2. Projectilefor air vessels comprising a casing, a fuse, a fan adapted to set the fuse at firing position, a cap adapted to be raised by the resistance of the air, means to lock the fan against rotation andadapted to be released when the cap is raised, the fan being allowed to freely rotate when said lock- .ing means are released.

3. Proje tile for air vessels, comprising a casing, a fuse, a rotatable fan adapted to set the fuse at firing positioh and to guide the projectile in vertical direction when falling, a cap adapted to be raised by the resistance of the air, means to lock the fan against rotation and adaptedto be released when the cap is raised, said fan being allowed to freely rotate when the locking means are released.

4. Projectile for air vessels, comprising a casing, a fuse, a rotatable fan adapted to set the fuse at firing position and to guide the projectile in verticaldirection when falling, a cap adapted to be raised by the resistance of the air, a locking pin normally adapted to lock the fan and adapted to be released .when the cap is raised to allow the fan to freely rotate when the projectile has fallen for a certain distance. a

5. Projectile for air vessels, comprising a casing, a fuse, a fan adapted to set the fuse at firing position, a spindle carrying the 'fan, a cap'constructed to be raised by the air catching underneath when the projectile is falling and a second spindle carrying the cap and rotatably journaled within a longitudinal bore of the first named spindle, a springtending to hold the spindle of the cap in' lowest position with regard to the first named spindle, a pin attached to the spindle of the cap and projecting out 

